Is GOB Borrowing Millions Without A Clear Plan?     

What exactly will Belize get from a two-hundred-million-dollar loan? Taiwan is making the money available for general financing, with no specific project attached. The Briceño administration can access forty million U.S. dollars this year, and the Prime Minister says it will fund capital investments. The Opposition, however, wants to know how much will go toward securing Belize’s energy future.

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“And so, the obvious question is, what portion of this U.S. one hundred million dollars will be used for energy security, particularly at a time such as this when every Belizean household is struggling with the cost of electricity. It is a fact that electricity bills have increased exponentially and continue to increase Mr. Speaker with no end in sight, with no solution recommended. Just the expectation that Belizeans will have to continue to bear the cost.”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“This is over five years and yes we are going to use by the end of the year over forty million. But if she would have only listened, this is what I said, there is no restrictions on how the funds should be allocated. It is a loan from government to government. We are giving a priority to meet local counterpart requirements to other capital investment programs funded by our multilateral development partners. And I said this in simple language, it will be spent in capital three, for example the highways we are building right now, the George Price Highway.”

 

The loan term is for twenty years.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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